It’s been stated that “love conquers all,” and the brand new play Duke & Roya places that notion to the check. Starring Jay Ellis, the Insecure alum takes on the persona of Duke, a profitable hip-hop artist who travels to war-torn Afghanistan in 2017 and turns into smitten with an Afghan girl. As romance blossoms, a silly act places their lives—and all lives concerned and adjoining to the continued warfare—in peril.
In stark distinction to Insecure‘s alter-ego Lawrence Walker, Duke is filled with drive and bravado. A lot in order that when he meets his assigned interpreter, Roya, a ravishing Afghan girl performed by Stephanie Nur, he’s sure she’ll need to kick it with him inside minutes. He quickly learns that she’s no lovesick stan. As she barbs forwards and backwards with him, she holds her personal via their burgeoning admiration on the Kabul base the place he’s performing. Duke convinces Roya to sneak him off the bottom; the timing is lower than best. Disaster strikes. Roya and her father, who runs the translator program on base, are then questioned about their loyalty to the command, leaving their future alternatives for a brand new life in jeopardy.
For many who have by no means met Ellis in particular person, the actor and creator of Did Everybody Have an Imaginary Buddy? stands at 6’2. When he takes the stage to rap, sure, Ellis really raps within the manufacturing, it’s fairly a presence. It’s additionally central to the story: Duke has been spitting rhymes that make him thousands and thousands, however they haven’t actually stated something, till he meets Roya. Her mere existence evokes him to delve deeper into his psyche, to jot down lyrics that talk not simply to the variety of automobiles he owns but additionally to his human situation.
Ellis’ dimension additionally makes it straightforward to imagine his characterization as he tries to guard Roya, in all of the improper methods. His sheer physicality might wrap her up and “save” her from the fearful world he perceives that she lives in. However Roya, who’s happy with the place she comes from and would by no means let it go so simply, states, “We don’t stay in concern, we stay with it.”
Additionally starring within the manufacturing is Noma Dumezweni as Duke’s mom. The South African-born and British-honed actress, now starring in Murderbot on Apple TV+, effortlessly blends the intentions of a involved dad or mum with the annoyance of getting a man-child son who nonetheless must mature. It’s straightforward to see that Dumezweni, who acquired an Olivier Award for her work in A Raisin within the Solar, was born to be on stage as she floats via each scene she’s in with ease.
Written by acclaimed screenwriter and playwright Charles Randolph-Wright, Duke & Roya is an insightful exploration of a Black man and an Afghan girl navigating the cultural variations of their blossoming romance. And whereas the romantic drama takes place in 2017, Randolph-Wright’s phrases might simply apply to what’s taking place in 2025, as international locations try to unravel their issues in ways in which put harmless lives at risk. If solely, like Duke and Roya, they use phrases as a substitute of warfare to make a connection.
Duke & Roya is enjoying on the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York Metropolis via August 11.